I moved to the small town when I was 7. I lived there until I was 13 and then my family returned to Denver. After living in Denver for the next 12 years I had my own family and really hated living there. I hated the drive to and from work, an hour and a half or more to drive 12 miles. I hated the air quality, crime and just about everything else. I am an outdoors person and hated having to drive an hour through the city just to go do something I love. I always remembered the small town I lived in and what I felt were the advantages of living there. Having lived in the big city her entire life, my wife had always wanted to live in a small town. So, in 2001 we planned the move, packed up and did it.
There were some struggles in the beginning. Finding a job was not very easy and we both ended up taking jobs in fields that we were inexperienced in and the pay wasn’t great. We had bought a house for just over a $100,000 so the jobs were enough to get us through. We didn’t know anyone and had to get active in the community and attend events to meet people. This was fairly easy as our daughter was just starting school and there were school events and parents of new friends. The local community newspaper also listed upcoming events that we attended if they interested us. Getting accustomed to the new pace and lifestyle wasn’t very difficult. The biggest annoyance was getting caught behind the occasional farm implement or elderly driver.
The profile of my town
With a population of about 4,000 people I live in a fairly small town. There is a grocery store, 3 gas stations, 6 restaurants, a golf course, 2 bars, assorted stores, a library, schools and churches. The area has historically been a retirement area but is slowly gaining a younger population as well. Nestled in a valley the area is mainly farming, ranching and orchards. There has been a shift recently from farming and orchards to vineyards. Considered a high mountain desert the climate is quite nice. Within an hour drive I can have just about anything. There is a small city of about 50,000 and another of about 100,000 within an hour drive. These cities each have an airport, theaters, restaurants, shopping and almost any service you could want. Just 15 minutes down the road there is a town of about 15,000 people. There are 2 major grocery stores and a Walmart, multiple fast food chains and a hospital. In under an hour I can enjoy countless outdoor activities. Fishing, hunting, camping, boating on rivers or lakes, hiking, biking, sightseeing, skiing, riding ATVs on trails or dirt bikes on seemingly endless BLM land.
During the first 4 years we were determined not to drive too far to work so that limited our opportunities. Once we decided that driving 30 minutes or an hour to work was fine, things got much easier.